A toast to both venerable folk, icons to an era

I see where the Queen and Hugh Hefner both turn 80 this month. Two octogenarians who are, in their own ways, icons of a few generations. The Queen, beloved and dedicated head of Great Britain and the Commonwealth, and Hef, master of his own domain, and an icon for legions of 14-year-old male wankers of all ages for years and years.

Indeed, they both began their reigns at almost the same time. The Queen the year before Hef in 1952, and both have watched their respective empires wax and wane as the years have gone by. But, God love them, they have carried on with an unremitting sense-of-duty in both cases.

There are some other parallels, too. They are both relatively fastidious about personal habits. Hef is an abstainer of alcohol, and the Queen is a very, very slight tippler, favoring the odd small glass of dry white, or a G&T after a beastly day of state-duties or being forced to make nice with Charles and Camilla. They both live in palaces of sorts. They both must endure the brown-nosing of fawning pages who hope to win favor by either lucrative appointments on the one hand, or a date with Miss February on the other.

The Queen has always been (of course) monogamous. Hef, on the other hand, has been a serial monogamist, eschewing the favors of more than one at a time. Both have seen style and tastes change during their many, many years in office. The Queen has seen a goodly part of the Royal household deteriorate into scandal and has seen her children involved in sexual escapades that might either bring a chuckle to old Hef, or maybe even cause a blush in his cheek. The Hefner household, on the other hand, has been remarkably scandal-free, ironically.

However, in both cases, I think a toast is in order. Furthermore, both personages provide an inspiration to those pathetic wimps who think that just because they have reached a certain age, they must retire from active life and go out to some sort of pathetically boring pasture. Nonsense, say the Queen and Hef in unison. Life is just beginning, so carpe diem and continue to imprint your own style on the lesser mortals who pay homage to you.